Liberal Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber unveiled a sculpture of a vulva made entirely of old purity rings to protest evangelical purity culture and presented it to pro-abortion second-wave feminist Gloria Steinem.
Bolz-Weber, the founding pastor of Denver’s House for All Sinners and Saints, showed off the sculpture — which was made by melting down the old jewelry — during the 2019 Makers Conference last week.
“Every single thing and person that seemed so powerful and inescapable, I name them and then I just go ‘footnote,’” Bolz-Weber told conference attendees. “I mean, seriously, Pontious Pilate? He’s a footnote. Your bully from middle school? Footnote. Your depression? Footnote. Your s—-y boss? Footnote. All of those things are very real, and the harm that they have on us and the world is also real.”
“But to me, the whole point of having faith is it allows us to believe in a bigger story than the one we tell ourselves. Those purity rings are a footnote,” she declared, unveiling the sculpture.
“The rings we couldn’t melt down spell out the word ‘freedom’ and were woven into this heart,” Bolz-Weber said, gesturing toward the sculpture.